For those of you who follow hockey, you're engaged in the playoff races and the storylines that follow.
Can Brodeur take his team to the Cup again?
What about Nabokov? Giguere? Hasek?
Will Sid the Kid be healthy and primed to bring his young Penguins team to hoist the Cup?
What about the falling Ottawa Senators?
Team headlines aside, who are the individuals who will garner honors at season's end? More importantly, who is your choice for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL MVP?
Maybe you're leaning towards Evgeni Malkin, who emerged from Sidney Crosby's shadow in Pittsburgh to carry the Penguins in Sid's absence.
Or what about Roberto Luongo, who is carrying the Canucks on his back despite some of the worst goal support in the league?
Most of you probably would go with 22-year-old Uber-star Alex Ovechkin, who's league-leading point total has his Capitals team on the cusp of their first playoff appearance since the 2002-2003 season.
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What if I told you there was a certain player you haven't considered with the credentials to come out on top?
Would you consider a star who spends nearly half of each game on the ice for his team, playing on the top unit on both the power play and penalty kill? What if I told you he ranks fourth in the league in assists, fourth in power play assists, and ranks first in the NHL with a staggering plus-41?
Maybe that's not quite enough.
What if the kicker was he was a lock to win the Norris Trophy this year as the league's top defensemen, all while captaining the team with the league's best record?
Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings has proven year-in and year-out that he is in a class of his own at his position. He has been a poster boy for durability, missing just 18 games in his past ten seasons, with just one season under 57 points in his last 12 years.
With the dominant Swede anchoring the back line for the Wings since 1991, Detroit has been the class of the NHL, making the playoffs each year with Lidstrom, en route to the league's best record five times to go along with three Stanley Cup championships.
As the Wings prepare to finish with home ice advantage throughout the playoffs yet again, making another run for Lord Stanley's Cup, it is time to look at a player who finds himself in the thick of the race. He's been anchoring the back line of a team ranking near the top in both special teams' categories.
On top of that, does anyone think it's a secret that the Wings rank near the top in goals against every year, including the comfortable hold they have on first place in that department this year?
Next month Lidstrom will turn 38 years old. Maybe it's time he adds a little variety to his trophy case, in the form of his first NHL MVP.
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5 months ago
I agree completely. We'll take a 6th Norris Trophy though right? Lidstrom for MVP!
5 months ago
hey buddy, i really liked the article, but as big of a red wings/lidstrom fan i am, i don't agree that lidstrom should or will win the mvp. in fact i would rank him 4th in voting behind ovechkin, malkin, and brodeur. they're alot of players, mainly defensemen that play almost half the game for their team. without oveckin, the caps are sunk, without malkin the pens would have stuggled when crosby went down and brodeur is simply being brodeur again on a team that lacks goal scorer and a steady D. Detroit, although not as deep as they used to be still has alot going for them. goaltending has been very solid at times, zetterberg and datsyuk are the best 1-2 punch in the league. players like cleary have stepped up before getting hurt and franzen has been hot during march. sure they have had their injury problems but the red wings are a winning team. i could go much more into detail i'm just keeping it short. i certainly agree that lidstrom is a lock to win the norris again though, which is enough in my book. i think he'll go down as one of, if not the best defenseman to ever play the game.
i wrote an article about the hart trophy as well. how i feel it's a lock for ovechkin. check it out, maybe i can sway you and again really like your article.
5 months ago
I couldn't agree more. When Lidstrom got hurt and was out a couple of games, The wings went on a bad streak. Not surprisingly though, when he came back they started to win again.
Are there better players? Of couse, but Lidstrom led his team to a (most likely) President's cup. Without him, the Wings wouldn't be as good period. Defense wins tight games and he makes that defense one of the best.
Nice article, I enjoyed it, good to see some respect for the new captain.
from 5 months ago
like i said i'm a huge red wings fan, but i can't agree with him as mvp, not this year. yes when lidstrom went down the wings had a bad loosing streak. it started before he went down though and just so happened to continue. keep in mind though, zetterberg had been injured, cleary, holmstrom, hasek, kronwall, chelios...they all had injuries. sure lidstrom is arguably the man for the red wings, but zetterberg and datsyuk could be their mvp's this year. even osgood pre all star game was rock solid. the red wings have the best offense and best defensive numbers in the league. i don't neccesarily agree with the whole "defense wins games" concept, it's more of a collective effort to me. when you score goals like they do, it's easier to win.
but in the end, of course the wings are as good without lidstrom, but any team who plays hard and steps up can manage to win without their star like the pens when crosby went down. lidstrom will take home the norris trophy, that's good enough for me! he's a legend
go wings!!!!!!!
5 months ago
Go back to the beginning of the season please. Read all the predictions for the teams.
A common thread... Detroit at the Top because of depth and Washington at the bottom because of lack of Depth.
Why is Washington not at the bottom?
Because OV is having a season not seen in the NHL for over a decade.
If he keeps up playing like this in the future, you should see good players asking to go to Washington for less money to get on the OV train.
If not Washington is back in last place. – Just look at the second line leaders +/-. Semin is minus 20
Nuff said Ovechkin is the Caps. And is the MVP
Heck the main reason Backstrom (leader in Rookie points) is not the fav for Rookie of the year is, “hey how can you not be good if your on the line with OV”
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